Never-registered 1990 Honda RC30 sells at UK auction for £65,250

Always wondered why the rear brake lines on RC30s look like they're long enough to get caught in the wheel
 
I'm actually kind of surprised that's all it went for, considering it's probably the most legendary and beautiful sportbike ever made, and this one is museum quality. I guess one issue affecting value now is that people knew how special they were from day one, so more were preserved in immaculate condition than normal.

For me, the RC30 is my 'if I won the lottery, I'd buy an immaculate one and put it on a plinth in my living room' bike. It's pure art, and I'd never get tired of admiring it...
 
The living room would be the best place for it. They were homologation specials and not very nice street bikes.
Engine heat would fry your 'nads and the clip-ons were down around the front axle.
Kinda like the munted customs that show up periodically with the brown seats and tractor tires.
 
I remember seeing one sitting in Brooklyn Cycle back then. With their connection to racing at the time, it made sense. I think it sat there for a couple years. It was a beautiful machine, but as TK asserts it looked like a torture rack up close. As I recall, the guy there said that you couldn't really ride it on the street because of the seating position, stiff suspension and high gearing.
 
TK4 said:
The living room would be the best place for it. They were homologation specials and not very nice street bikes.
Engine heat would fry your 'nads and the clip-ons were down around the front axle.
Click to expand...

Here's a fun Daily Rider where he covers some of those criticisms:


Coles notes version: heat definitely an issue, but no different from other modern V4's (Panigale, RSV4); gearing is excellent but may not be stock; riding position is pretty standard for a sportbike, no better or worse than most; overall a very useful and surprisingly docile bike with impeccable fuelling and gearbox that works very well as long as you're moving and not suck in traffic, as the heat is an issue.

I have also read a number of retrospective pieces in Brit magazines like Bike and Practical Sportbikes, where they ride one and compare to either modern variations (I think the latest CBR, for example) or the competitors of the era. The consensus seems to mostly agree with the above video. Basically, it's down on power and has worse weight distribution (carried higher up) compared to modern sportbikes, but otherwise feels surprisingly up to date and very much not out of place. Maybe it's because it established the template to which all other subsequent sport and production race bikes have hewn. The original GSX-R750 might have been the first true superbike, a full-on sportbike for the street, but almost everything about that design that's been left behind, while the RC30 has plenty of elements that you still see today.

TK4 said:
Kinda like the munted customs that show up periodically with the brown seats and tractor tires.
Click to expand...

How dare you!? At least the RC30 was built to a purpose, with its beauty coming as a direct product of its focus and the incredible dedication and knowledge of the wizards at HRC. Some bodged together backyard homebrew cafe racer clone made by some beardo whose idea of 'engineering' is to stick an analog clock to the tank and take an angle grinder to fender mounting tabs doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. Harrumph.
 
Honda covered all the details with the RC30. The lowly ignition key for instance had CF rather than the usual plastic top covering i looked into ordering a blank key for another Honda that i had at the time and was quoted south of $200 for one...
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom